State Has Lot Of Housing Ground To Make Up

OP-ED

February 14, 2014|By DAVID FINK | OP-ED, The Hartford Courant

More than any other Connecticut governor in decades, and more than virtually all other governors nationally, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy — with the General Assembly's help — has provided resources that will offer safe, secure, affordable homes for residents who need them: veterans, the elderly, the chronically homeless, low-income families, young professionals, baby boomers, unaccompanied youth and the working class.

His now $600 million-plus investment — including the wide-ranging housing initiatives in his latest budget — proves that Malloy knows an affordable, appropriate home in the right location can enhance a child's education, a parent's job opportunities and everyone's access to training, health care, fresh food and more.

Even with such a champion, however, Connecticut cannot quickly reverse long-running housing policy shortcomings, especially when they are made worse by the state's rapidly changing housing market; nation-leading growth in wealth disparity; a tightly held tradition of home rule and a gridlocked Congress sending fewer federal housing dollars.

The governor inherited big problems:

•A severe supply shortage. Connecticut, which developed to meet the post-1970 sprawling, single-family home hunger of the baby boom generation, now has a glut of large suburban homes and not nearly enough rentals and modest ownership opportunities for boomers who want to downsize and millennials with no interest in or money for single-family homes.

•Housing costs so high that 39 percent of all households spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing — leaving them too little to purchase other necessities and, as a result, badly wounding the state's economy.

•Even worse prospects for low- and moderate-income households: 27 percent of renters spend more than 50 percent of their incomes on housing and, thus, teeter on the edge of homelessness. Half of Connecticut's occupations don't pay an average wage equal to the "housing wage" — the $23.22 an hour needed to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment in Connecticut. Why? Because like most other goods and services in this highest per capita income state, the cost of housing has been driven up by those who can easily afford it and made worse by Connecticut's nation-leading growth in wealth disparity since 1990.

•137 of Connecticut's 169 municipalities have little to no affordable housing. The 32 that have some also have overburdened schools and community services are stretched thin.

Meanwhile, the state's public housing — 14,000 units built largely after World War II — was in disrepair and, in too many cases, almost uninhabitable. And while much work had been done to end homelessness, it remained a nagging problem for veterans and low-income families clobbered by the recession.

On top of all that, Malloy confronted a state that was economically stagnant, with low- and moderate- income families — those who need education, jobs and other supports the most — living in overburdened school districts, underserved communities and far from jobs or the transit that can get them to employment, training, schools, health care and the services that can make a real difference in their lives.

Malloy responded with a $600 million-plus investment in common-sense approaches that will spur economic growth and reduce costs in the long-run:

•A major effort to create more housing with support services for everyone from homeless veterans to homeless youth, struggling families, those with mental illness, ex-prisoners and the chronically homeless.

•A $300 million program to preserve the state's aging public housing.

•Major mass transit investments and a coordinated multi-agency housing and transit-oriented development strategy that will allow some low- and moderate-income households to live near rail stations and many others to connect with bus mass transit.

•Rent subsidies and congregate housing for the elderly.

•Incentives through the HOMEConnecticut program for mixed-income housing in towns with good schools, jobs, transit access and abundant community services.

There is more. But the impressive bottom line still is short of success. Connecticut, like other states, has learned sound housing policy doesn't naturally fall into place. Widening wealth disparity, demographic changes, economic pressures and federal inaction don't abide long neglect.

Even an exceptional governor can't catch up that fast.

David Fink is the policy director of The Partnership for Strong Communities, a statewide housing policy organization based in Hartford.